Going Up The BIM Value Chain From Addressing Problems To Gaining A Competitive Advantage
For a long time, construction companies worldwide have been using Building Information Modelling (BIM) to address common challenges such as delays in completing projects, teams working in silos, and projects going over-budget. Every stakeholder –from owners, engineers to contractors has benefited from using it. According to Dodge Data and Analytics, here are the top five benefits of BIM:
74% of contractors found improvement in constructability of final design
73% of owners got a better understanding of proposed designs
71% of engineers noticed an improvement in the quality or function of the final design
70% of owners observed improvement in documentation
70% of owners cited improvement in planning construction phasing and logistics
Apart from these top-rated benefits, BIM has also been found to reduce the final construction cost by 5% to 10%. 88% of the respondents reported an acceleration in project completion.
It is well-known that BIM had managed to bring cost and operational efficiency. However, there’s more to BIM. It can transform a construction business and provide it with a competitive advantage.
But to gain that competitive advantage, companies need to go up the BIM value chain.
BIM Value Chain – A Journey From Addressing Problems To Gaining Competitive Advantage
BIM has come a long way from being a tool used to streamline and manage tasks. It has changed the way companies plan the designs, calculate the estimates and budgets, and manage the project end-to-end. Stating that it can transform the culture of several companies may sound like a lofty statement to make, but it has proven to be a great enabler for construction companies. Here’s how going up the BIM value chain will benefit the company.
Aids knowledge sharing
Let’s take an example. Typically, a construction worker who identifies a clash or an error or issues in the way the design is implemented onsite would communicate it to the architect or the engineer for reconciliation. By the time it is rectified, the personnel wastes a significant amount of time. Any changes could risk the timing and cost of the project. These errors occur because the drawings are made in 2-D, and fitting all the details into the drawing is difficult. As companies grow up the BIM value chain, they can use 3D to 7D modeling to build in all the required details. The construction experts can be involved in the project at an early stage and assess the site’s issues on a real-time basis by examining the models. This minimizes the scope of making design changes at a later stage. BIM enables the stakeholders involved in the project to consolidate their learning and share it with everyone across the company to establish best practices for future projects. Consistent sharing of knowledge and real-time examples can improve project outcomes and offer a competitive advantage.
Creates leaner processes
Although lean management and BIM are separate concepts, they can be combined to increase productivity, reduce wastage of resources, and improve the overall quality of the project. This could potentially change the way companies plan and execute their project plans. It compels them to focus on optimizing processes, enhance communication between different stakeholders, and make necessary improvements at the right stage of construction to avoid problems at a later stage. BIM can become the single window of truth that operational changes are based on or goals evaluated against. The ultimate goal of both these concepts is to build sustainable, value-driven, and economically viable companies.
Shifts focus on innovation
A company can grow if it moves beyond routine tasks to focus on innovations. Companies have now started to use BIM to support new initiatives such as energy management, carbon analysis, and offsite pre-fabrication to add value to the projects. It helps the company in sustainable development – a need of the hour.
How Excelize Helps Companies To Move From Addressing Problems To Becoming The Industry Leader?
Here’s how Excelize helps construction companies to grow in the BIM value chain incrementally.
This is the first stage where we help companies address their daily challenges such as escalating costs, silo way of functioning, and delay in scheduling. We help companies to solve these problems by offering them access to our BIM expertise. It helps in optimizing the costs and improving the business outcome. We also enhance coordination between different stakeholders, so there are no delays in completing the project
In the second stage of the value chain, companies witness accelerated growth and increased capabilities. We prepare them for digital transformation and enhance their competencies to bid for high-value projects. We offer access to our studio model for them to establish BIM practices without any upfront investment. We provide a demand-based team that can be scaled up or down depending upon the project demands.
This is the stage where companies have fully bought into the benefits of BIM and are prepared for an org-wide digital transformation and gain a competitive edge. At this stage, companies can surely benefit from thought leadership, best practices, and BIM expertise from an organization that has “been there and done it all” in BIM. This helps them in their quest to use the power of BIM to create a differentiator for themselves. This is the stage when we offer our expertise to companies to create and execute a BIM-adoption roadmap. We assess the processes and suggest improvements to help them create a unique value proposition for themselves.
Conclusion
The World Economic Forum has written an article on how emerging technologies like big data, AI, and IoT are being used to transform construction post the pandemic. There’s no longer any debate that digital transformation is the future of the construction industry, and BIM will play a central role. For companies keen to begin their digital transformation journey, it's time to embrace BIM and focus on rising up the value chain to leverage its full potential.
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